Picturing Chinese New Year in London

This year the Chinese New Year ran from 3 February. It is Year of the Rabbit, associated with new beginnings and good luck. We captured some of the scenes on London’s streets during the New Year celebrations last Sunday.

Red stall at Chinese New Year in London
Chinese New Year in London.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Those born in the Year of the Rabbit are believed to be tactful, talented and trusted. This works on a 12 year cycle, so other Years of the Rabbit include 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963 and 1951.

I hope you have remembered to give your home a good clean before the New Year! It is traditional to do so to sweep away bad luck, however you must to do that before the New Year. Supposedly you must not sweep again in the first few days as this may sweep away the good luck brought in by the New Year.

Red is associated with New Year, and people often redecorate windows and doors in red to welcome in the new year.

You can also give out packets of lucky money to children. This is a way of distributing luck. The red packets decorated with gold are known as “Leisee”. You can find other fun activities online for children to do at home including making paper bunnies specially for the Year of the Rabbit.

Red envelope of lucky money for Chinese New Year
Giving out a red envelope of lucky money during Chinese New Year celebrations in London.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

Here in London there are major celebrations of New Year, the largest outside Asia. There were several events taking place on 3 February and the following weekend.

However, London’s biggest celebrations didn’t take place until Sunday, 6th February. The now traditional colourful spectacle started at midday with events around Chinatown in Soho, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. The large crowds got to see processions of colourful dragons, firecrackers, dancers, acrobats, packets of money being handed out and splashes of red everywhere. And it was free!

For the latest information, keep an eye on View London and London Chinatown.

Here are more of our pictures from London’s Chinese New Year celebration:

Giving lucky money to children
Giving lucky money to children.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

Child with red drum at Chinese New Year in London
Child with red drum at Chinese New Year in London.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

Women holding paper dragons at Chinese New Year in London
Women holding paper dragons at Chinese New Year in London.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

Street scene at Chinese New Year in London
Street scene at Chinese New Year in London.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

Street food during Chinese New Year in London
Tempting street food on display during Chinese New Year in London.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

Chinese New Year stall in red with a toy rabbit and food
Something for everyone on Chinese New Year stall: Red, Rabbit, Refreshments!

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

red toy rabbits during celebrations of Chinese Year of the Rabbit in London
Campaigners employ red toy rabbits during celebrations of Chinese Year of the Rabbit in London.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

London street with Chinese New Year lanterns
London street with Chinese New Year lanterns.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

Shoppers look at stall, Chinese New Year in London
Shoppers look at stall during Chinese New Year celebration in London.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

Shoppers look at stall, Chinese New Year in London
Boy plays with paper dragon during celebrations of Chinese New Year in London.

This work by WorldAccent Translation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


 

The pictures on this page were taken by Angela Stapleford on behalf of WorldAccent at London’s Chinese New Year celebrations on 7 February 2011. You are free to reuse these images, so long as you do not alter them. You must attribute WorldAccent Translation and include a followed link to https://www.worldaccent.com/chinese

Creative Commons Licence
These works by WorldAccent Translation are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

You can see more of our photos on our Flickr set of Chinese New Year, London 2011

5 Replies to “Picturing Chinese New Year in London”

  1. Thanks! After taking some photos I enjoyed some of the food from the stall pictured, it was lovely. Hope to try the restaurants soon, they were very busy on Sunday!

    One of the highlights of the day for me was seeing how much the children enjoyed the celebrations. My three year old could not get enough of the balloons being generously handed out and really enjoyed the lion dances!

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